Blue Raspberry
by Riddle Road
Summary: Does not comply with OOTP! Romantic tension heightens in Harry's 5th year at Hogwarts. Malfoy even seems to be hot on someone, and Haley dosen't make the situation any better. HP/RW; DM/OC; FW/GW; HG/NL
1. Letters, Nightmares, and Tea

Disclaimer: Harry Potter not mine but you know which people do be. Ugga   
ugg.  
Real author: Uhhh riiiight....  
Rating: PG-13  
Author's Note: This contains slash. Yaoi. The romantic pairing of two of   
the male gender. Get it? If you dun like that then go away. Shoo. ^_^ Also   
it contains hints at yuri (the pairing of two girls) but not for a few   
chapters.  
Ok, not to mention that I started writing this two days before exams start   
at ten at night. Why? Because I have no life and because I don't want to   
study for Potions and Arinth- I mean Integrated Science and Algebra.   
*whistles innocently* So if this is a little weird or you don't get   
another chapter for like two weeks then you know why.   
Oh, I have to say "his wand" a few times in this chapter, but it's   
referring to, y'know, the wooden MAGIC ones. Get your minds out of the   
gutter, you weird people!  
Have you ever noticed that kitchen floors never creak?  
So anyways... on with the show!  
  
**Blue Raspberry**  
Chapter One - Letters, Nightmares, and Chammomile Tea  
  
Dear Ron,  
Yes you can come get me! Thank god that Dumbledore said you   
could! It's really very lonely without you and Hermione. I've sort   
of been just keeping to myself over here. The way the Dursleys   
work is "Do no harm, and no harm will be done to you." So far it's   
been working.   
In either case, be prepared for your mom to go crazy over   
me because I'm still too thin. Yea, I know it, but what can you do   
when you're living with a mental aunt and uncle and a cousin who's   
as big as a barge? I bet I'd look a lot less thin if I just had   
some clothes that actually fit me.  
Yea, oh well. Remind me to get some at Diagon Alley. That   
is... do they sell Muggle-type clothes there? I sure hope so.   
Well, even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter. There's plenty of   
Muggle shops in London that sell clothes and as long as your dad   
dosen't come (think of the disaster THAT would be!) then I could   
show you a bit of the world I lived in for eleven years.  
Anyway, I can't wait to see you. So... er, come quick!  
Harry   
  
Ron read over the letter a fifth time and smiled hugely. 'He 'can't wait"   
to see me!' He thought excitedly. 'I can't wait to see you either, Harry.   
Just wait until tomorrow... then you'll see me and I'll see you...' "Nox."   
he whispered to his wand, and laid back in the darkness.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Harry stared out the window of his bedroom. He was too... well, awake to   
be asleep. It had been two days ago he sent Hedwig with his reply to Ron   
with the instructions to "fly as fast as you can". That meant Ron should   
get his letter tomorrow. He'd never known Hedwig to fly faster than that.   
  
"Ron." he whispered into the night air. "I wonder what you're doing right   
now. Could Hedwig be tapping at your window with my letter? Are you asleep   
and waiting for it? Awake and waiting? What are you doing?" He glanced   
over at his clock. It read 3:12 AM. Harry turned back to his window and   
sighed.  
  
He awoke later that morning when a giant black hawk pecked him lightly   
through his hair. Harry was a bit taken aback. What in the world was a   
giant bird like that... unless... He looked at it's legs, and as he   
thought, a note was tied to one of them. Gently he untied it and it flew   
to his desk.  
  
"All I've got are owl treats. Sorry. I've never seen a magnificent bird   
like you before." The hawk seemed pleased enough at the praise and flew   
away. The note was in Ron's hadwriting, scribbled like it was the last   
thing he could ever write and he only had five seconds to write it in.  
  
Harry,  
We're coming to get you!  
Haha, that sounded like some crazed Muggle gang. Well, we   
are, in any case. I sent the note with Siren, Bill's black hawk.   
He's twice as fast as any owl (no offense to Hedwig or anything).   
Oh, and Hedwig is staying here. She looked pretty tired out when   
she arrived, so we set up a perch.  
So, yea, pack as fast as you can! We're coming in a   
ministry of magic car. Bill's driving. Oh, and don't worry about   
making your trunk too heavy -- Fred and George are coming along.  
Seeya then!  
Ron   
  
Harry stared at the note for a few moments longer, and then set to packing   
the little he owned.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Ron? You awake, dear?" Mrs. Weasley called through the closed door of her   
youngest son's room. There was no reply and she called again. After a few   
more seconds of silence, she cracked the door open to see what was keeping   
him. Ron lay on his back on his bed, wand beside him, head off the pillow,   
one leg hanging over the side from the knee on, and clutching Harry's   
letter to his chest with a content smile. She shut the door and turned   
away, looking at the ground, and walked back down to the kitchen. "Bill,   
could you go wake up Ron?" He looked up at her.  
  
"Hm? I thought you left to do that..." he saw the look on her face. "But   
whatever. I'll be right back with the little rascal." He walked up to   
Ron's room, confused, and knocked on the door. "Oh ickle Ronniekins, wakey   
wakey!" There was a startled yelp from inside. "Can I come in?"  
  
"Er, uh, yea!" Stuttered the reply. Bill opened the door. Ron was in his   
boxers and a t-shirt, pulling on jeans. A crumpled peice of paper was   
sticking out from under his pillow, and his wand lay on the bed.  
  
"What were you up to?" Ron looked up at him, only one pants leg on.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing. If you get ready fast enough, I'll take us all out to this great   
Muggle coffee shop after we get Harry. I'll be in the parlor." With that,   
Bill left. Ron was left looking into the open expanse of air past the   
banister of the stairway.  
  
"Did he see...?" He glanced over at his rumpled bed, Harry's letter   
stuffed under the pillow, and his wand. "Nah. He couldn't have..."  
  
Ten minutes later found Bill driving the Ministry of Magic car with Ron,   
Fred and George in the back. Ron was staring absently out the window while   
the twins admired the Muggle buildings. Ron thought he actually saw one of   
the twins kiss the other's cheek at one point, but decided it was just his   
eyes playing tricks on him.  
  
"Hey Ron!" someone was shaking him. "Ron, we're at Harry's house!" He   
snapped open his eyes. Fred had him by the shoulders and was jostling him   
awake.  
  
"Oh! Sorry, we're here? Guess I was a little more tired than I thought."   
He got out of the car and walked up the front drive with Bill. He pressed   
the doorbell, feeling very proud of himself for remembering that concept   
from Muggle Studies class at Hogwarts. A large, purple-faced man answered.  
  
"What do you want?" He asked gruffly, and looked at Ron. Then he took a   
step back, apparently remembering him from the fireplace incident the year   
before.  
  
"We're here to get Harry." Bill answered when he realized Ron wasn't about   
to anytime soon. The big man turned purpler.  
  
"Who are you representing?" The brothers exchanged glances.  
  
"The Weasleys. We're friends of his." He sqinted his eyes at them, and Ron   
wondered if he was glaring.  
  
"Fine. Go get him. He's not come down this morning so he's probably still   
sleeping or blown himself up or something." He muttered the last part,   
walking to the bottom of the stairs to monitor the entire process. Fred   
and George knocked on Harry's door and took his trunk. Ron helped Harry   
take the rest of his stuff and they left with polite thanks and apology to   
the big man. Somehow, Harry managed to fit in the back of the car with the   
three others and still not be too tight a fit. Ron figured that was most   
likely because he was so inhumanly thin.  
  
"Harry." he whispered and pulled the smaller boy into a hug. He felt   
Harry's hands grip the back of his shirt and him bury his face in his   
shoulder. A decidedly irregular pulse beat extremely fast under the hand   
he had on the back of Harry's neck, but it slowed after a long moment and   
Ron realized Harry was asleep. His beautiful green eyes were shut lightly,   
and dark, unruly hair fell all over his face. Carefully, he moved Harry's   
hands and leaned back, careful not to startle him, and finally took a   
close look. He was paler than Ron thought even Malfoy was, and unnaturally   
skinny. The muscles he had gotten playing Quidditch were defined even   
while slack, where he could see them under the too-big clothes. Ron slid   
his arm down to encircle Harry's waist. He felt individual ribs as he   
brushed lightly over them. "My poor Harry..." he whispered even softer,   
and took one of his hands, holding it on his own chest, and closed his   
eyes.  
  
George looked over to check on Harry and smiled. Ron was sitting there,   
one arm around Harry's waist, the other holding one of Harry's hands over   
the redhead's heart. Harry himself was sleeping, his head on Ron's   
shoulder, looking sweet and so completely vulnerable. George nudged Fred   
and nodded toward the pair. Fred looked and turned back to George,   
covering his twin's lips with his own. George smiled crookedly.  
  
"Now what was all that about?"  
  
"I felt left out." Replied Fred in a mock-whimper, and kissed George again.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
When they arrived at the Burrow (Bill decided to save Starbucks for   
another time when he got there and nobody in the back of the car was awake   
except George) he looked into the backseat of the car. Fred was asleep on   
George -- not an uncommon occurance -- but Harry and Ron were wrapped   
together in an obviously more-than-friendly manner. He glanced toward the   
house and his potentially homophobic mother.  
  
"Ron." He whispered loudly, waking both his target and Fred, but not Harry.  
  
"Oh. Are we home?" Ron whispered back.  
  
"Yea." He looked at them. Harry had somehow twined his fingers behind   
Ron's neck. "Maybe you should carry him in. He looks like he needs the   
help."  
  
"Mm-hm." Ron traced the dark cirlcles under Harry's eyes; present even in   
sleep. "I'll take him up to my room." It was a challenge getting out of   
the car, but Harry didn't stir once, and Ron managed to get one arm under   
his friend's knees, the other under his upper back, and carry him without   
problems.  
  
Mrs. Weasley dashed out of the house and squealed, "Harry! Is he alright?   
Is he-" Ron cut her off.  
  
"Shhh mom, he's ok, just sleeping. I'm gonna take him up to my room so he   
can sleep away from all the family-type noise." And to his surprise, Molly   
Weasley just nodded and let him go. At the door of his room, Harry's grip   
slackened. "It's okay." Ron whispered mostly to himself. "You can sleep   
now and you'll be just fine. Nothing bad will happen to you, because I   
won't let it. I promise." He got inside the room and closed the door.  
  
"Ron?" croaked a voice. Harry's startlingly green eyes were half-lidded,   
looking up at the boy who held him. "You promise? I can rest?" Ron laid   
him gently down on his bed and took the wand and paper away to make it   
more comfortable.  
  
"I promise, Harry. I'll stay here and protect you. Now, sleep." Harry's   
eyes shut again and he drifted off into an exhausted slumber.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A breeze drifted through the open window of Ron's bedroom. It was   
mid-morning the day after Harry had arrived, and he was still sleeping.   
Fred and George had each come to visit twice, Ginny and Bill once, and   
Mrs. Weasley every other hour until Ron promised to go get her if there   
were any changes in Harry's condition.  
  
At the feel of soft, cool air blowing across his face, Harry woke up. He   
felt more rested than he'd felt in weeks and his glasses were off, causing   
him to wonder just where he was. Not the Dursley's or Hogwarts, that was   
certain. So that meant... He sat up carefully and looked at the blurry   
images of Quidditch players in bright orange robes. Glancing around   
frantically, he located his glasses and pulled them on. Ron was dozing in   
a chair near the window, tired from keeping watch over Harry so vigilantly.  
  
Harry smiled widely. Ron's fire-red hair had fallen over his face and was   
blowing in the very breeze that had awoken him. A tired, slightly nauseous   
feeling was gnawing at his insides, but he pushed it to the back of his   
mind and went on watching Ron. His crystal blue eyes fluttered open   
beneath his hair and met Harry's green ones.  
  
"Harry!" he called in a soft voice. "You're finally awake! You've been out   
for about a day. Mum was worried sick about you. I-" he looked at his feet   
and blushed scarlet. "I was too. Expecially after you fell asleep on me in   
the car like that. I've never known you to be like that. Ever." Harry   
smiled impishly.  
  
"Sorry to worry you all. I just hadn't slept... and I suppose that with my   
body running out of fuel sources, it took longer to recover than usual."   
Ron nodded, shaking his hair out of his eyes; then stood and closed the   
distance between, them, placing a cool hand on Harry's forehead.  
  
"You feel a bit warm. I'll get mum to check you out. You gonna be okay for   
a minute?"  
  
"I should be." Ron nodded again and left. Harry just sat and looked   
around. 'I can hardly beleive I'm here. Ron's here. And I haven't died   
yet. There's no way I should beleive this is anything more than a   
beautiful dream, and yet...' Ron had come back, his mother with him.  
  
"Harry! How are you feeling, dear?"  
  
"Much better, Mrs. Weasley."  
  
"Good. Are you hungry? You're just so thin..."  
  
"I'm not very hungry..." he glanced at Ron's huge, worried eyes, "...but I   
suppose I should have a little something."  
  
"Of course you should. I'll just fix you up a little something easy on an   
unaccustomed stomach. I'll be right back up." She bustled out, leaving the   
boys alone once again. Harry laid back aganst the pillows and Ron, after a   
moment's hesitation, sat next to him on the bed and held one of his hands.  
  
"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked seriously, looking into his   
friend's brightly green eyes. He watched as silently, the eyes took on a   
desperate quality, and deep-set in them was fear. Harry shook his head no,   
not breaking eye contact. "Well what's wrong?" He asked gently.  
  
"I..." he stared back into the crystalline blue eyes, heart beating fast.   
"I don't know..." The door creaked and the two jumped apart, uncertain of   
what was about to happen. Mrs. Weasley, carrying a tray with a bowl of   
soup and cup of tea on it, was followed by the twins.  
  
"Now Harry, eat as much of this as you can. It's the best thing for you   
right now besides chicken soup."  
  
"Ron, you go take a shower or something. We'll watch over Harry for you."   
Fred said, and winked. Ron gave them a worried look but left anyway. The   
moment he was out of the room, the twins looked at him, mischevious smiles   
plastered on their faces.  
  
"What?" Harry asked cautiously, not liking the look they were giving him.   
  
"Eat." George ordered. "Talk is for later." Harry followed orders. George   
sat in Ron's vacated chair while Fred walked about, apparently conferring   
with the posters on the walls. Finally he turned back to the black-haired   
boy.  
  
"Are you sure you two should be in here with the door closed without a   
chaperone?" He asked. Harry just about dropped the teacup and looked up at   
Fred.  
  
"Excuse me?" he asked in a voice more confident than he felt.  
  
"You. And Ron. Should you be in here without somebody watching?" Harry   
managed to turn a brilliant shade of red.  
  
"What are you implying?" The twins smiled at each other devilishly.  
  
"Oh... nothing." George said and told Harry to eat already.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ron turned over in bed and checked his watch: 1:27 AM. He groaned inwardly   
and covered his eyes with his arm. That lasted not long, for across the   
room, Harry whimpered. In a matter of seconds, Ron had gotten up and   
halfway crossed the room to Harry's bed. He looked at his sleeping friend   
and stopped. He was on his side with his face turned upward, clutching the   
sheets to his chest.   
  
As quietly as he could, Ron tiptoed the rest of the way to Harry and   
brushed the messy black hair out of his face. Illuminated by the   
moonlight, the other boy's skin shone silver, and his hair took on an   
almost indigo quality. Tears left sparkling trails on his cheeks. Ron's   
breath caught in his throat and he backed hastily away before literally   
running out of his room and down to Bill's. He knocked twice and the door   
was opened.  
  
Bill looked like he hadn't even gone to sleep yet, and Ron wouldn't doubt   
it. One-thirty was early for someone like Bill.  
  
"Ron?" he whispered. "What's going on?"  
  
"I, you see, I just... it was the moonlight, I swear-" Bill cut him off.  
  
"Would you like to come in?" Ron nodded and walked past his older brother   
to sit on the bed. Bill closed the door and went to sit next to him. "Now,   
what is this all about?" Ron took a deep breath.  
  
"You see, I couldn't sleep and Harry was having a nightmare and the moon   
was shining on him all slivery and... and..." he swallowed. "I think I   
just almost kissed Harry." Bill nodded and put a comforting arm around his   
little brother's shoulders.  
  
"Ron, Ron, Ron..."  
  
"What, what, what?" He asked glumly.  
  
"If you want this to go anywhere, don't let mom know."  
  
"It's not that..."  
  
"What is it then?"  
  
"It's just that... it's Harry! He's been my best friend for almost five   
years, I'm not supposed to get a crush on him! Plus, he grew up in the   
muggle world. They think stuff like this is basically the spawn of the   
devil except a select few. Not to mention that he's... he's the famous   
Harry Potter. The boy who lived! I'm just Ron Weasley. The boy from an   
exceptionally poor family who hasn't done anything important at all."  
  
"Ron, now listen closely. I'm not going to say I've been in exactly the   
same circumstance, but... it was close. The first thing you have to know   
is that with boy-boy relationships, whether you're Harry Potter or Ron   
Weasley dosen't matter. Only what kind of person you are and what you do   
matters. The second is that I bet you'd be surprised at how easily he'll   
accept the wizard way of looking at things. Third, take it slowly, and   
keep your cool. Don't tell anyone that would be problematic. But most   
importantly - remember we all love you, no matter what. Ok, bro? Now maybe   
you should go back to bed."  
  
"I can't sleep..."  
  
"Then, chammomile tea?"  
AN: Yahoo! I finished a chapter! It took me an entire month, but I did it!   
Tune in (in about a month, hehe) for chapter two of Blue Raspberry. Ja ne! 


	2. The Unexpected Slytherin

Disclaimer: *sings* clefairy clefairy clefairy clef clef fairy fairy   
*stops singing* (Translation: Harry Potter isn't mine, isn't mine.)   
*sings* clefairy fairy clefairy fairy fairy clef *stops singing* (It isn't   
the authors, it isn't isn't the author's either!) *sings* CleFAIRY-fairy   
clefairy o_O *stops singing* (Wait, I hope you're not a Pokemon trainer.   
o_O)  
Rating: PG-13  
AN: Ahhh... aren't hot packs great? Put 'em in the microwave for a minute,   
arrage them, and voila! Those neck muscles that haven't un-tensed in the   
past two years? Relaxed.  
Er-hem, well, first things first. Thanks to clefairymon or smurfysailor or   
whoever you are right now for the disclaimer inspiration! Sorry I haven't   
talked to you in like two years. ^_^()   
Speaking of like two years I know it hasn't been THAT long, but it sure   
seems like it. I started reading J. L. Matthew's "Slythering Rising"   
series yesterday (at a friend's reccomendation) and got a heartache for   
this again.  
... Personally, I think she really could have portrayed the twins better,   
but... this isn't to critique her story, it's to give you mine. Enjoy!  
  
**Blue Raspberry**  
Chapter Two - The Unexpected Slytherin  
  
"All ready, boys?" Molly Weasley asked, checking Ron and the twins over   
for anything out of place. Ron wrinkled his nose, but said nothing for   
years of unnecessary look-overs. He, Harry, Fred and George were to go to   
Diagon alley and buy school supplies. It was the first year they were   
allowed to go alone (by Mr. Weasley's request), and Ron relished the   
thought of it just being himself, Harry, and Hermione again after a long   
summer.  
  
"Mum, if we don't get going, we'll miss Lee at Flourish and Blotts!" Fred   
complained after a long moment more of being checked over, then grinned at   
his twin.  
  
"I know, dear, just making sure you're presentable." She looked him over   
and pulled the jar of floo powder off the mantle. "Now, Fred, you first."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Bushy brown hair behind a book. That's all the world could see of Hermione   
Granger at the moment. Then suddenly - she had a face! Down went the book   
she had been flipping through and off she went to the bookshelf for   
another. Momentarily, she pulled down a new-looking potions text and   
opened it somewhere in the middle.  
  
"The Ruby Love potion..." she read aloud, though unintentionally. "The   
person who drinks it falls completely in love with the person who gave it   
to him. He will love that person for the rest of his life... hmmm... for   
the rest of the giver's or drinker's life, I wonder?"  
  
"The drinker's life." A girl not far down the bookshelf stated   
confidently. Hermione turned to her.  
  
"Really? How do you know?"   
  
The thin copper-haired girl grinned, tossing a paperback book on dragons   
from hand to hand. "I know Lioness Blackfire, the author of that book,   
personally. Her parents constantly fought and were thinking of getting a   
divorce. One day, she tricked her mom into thinking it was a smoothie from   
her to her dad and asked her mother to give it to him. He drank it, and   
suddenly was all in love with her. As it was him causing the fights in the   
first place... well, it worked. Her mom died of some type of brain tumor   
not too long ago and her dad still loves her as much as the potion   
guarantees." Hermione stared at the girl, openmouthed.  
  
"It really works that well? That's... that's incredible!" She flipped the   
book to see the author's name - Lioness Blackfire - stamped in gold   
letters on the cover. "Who's this Lioness Blackfire, now?" she paused.   
"Actually, who are you? You've been so nice and I completely forgot to ask   
who you are!" The girl laughed again.  
  
"I'm Haley Summonara. You are?"  
  
"Hermione Granger. Pleased to meet you." They shook hands warmly.  
  
"Hermione Granger? You..." she closed an eye, pointing a finger at the   
other young witch. "You... went to the christmas ball with Viktor Krum   
last year!"  
  
"Impressive. Do you go to Hogwarts?"  
  
"Of course." She grinned.  
  
"Hermione!" A voice from the front of the shop called.  
  
"Ron! Harry!" She called back. "Harry, my god, what happened to you? Are   
you feeling well? You're far too thin-"  
  
"Hermione, I'm okay, I'm okay! Really, don't worry about it. Just as soon   
as we get back to school I'll get to play quidditch and then I'll really   
look fine." He noticed the redhead behind his friend. "Who's this?"  
  
"Oh! Ron, Harry, this is Haley Summonara. She goes to Hogwarts too."  
  
"Cool." Ron said. "If you're shopping for supplies, you can come with us   
if you like." A darkness passed over her features so quickly before   
breaking into a grin that Harry wasn't quite sure he'd actually seen it.  
  
"I'd love to! Thanks so much!" They bought books first, seeing as they   
were in the shop (Hermione eventually deciding on getting the potions text   
as well) and headed off for their other errands - Madame Maklin's for new   
dress robes for Ron, the owlery for food for Hedwig and Pigwidgeon, a shop   
selling fun-colored inks at Haley's insistance, and then of course the   
Apothecary. While Hermione was inspecting bunches of unicorn hair and Ron   
was avoiding live spiders, Harry noticed Haley speaking in a hushed and   
hurried manner to the man behind the desk. However, hard as he listened   
(while "reading" the labels of jars on the wall), he couldn't seem to make   
out half of what was being said.  
  
"Dried gingko leaves, yes... vervain, and none of that cheap kind... what   
do you mean you're out of moon sugar? You should know to always keep a   
supply..."   
  
'Moon sugar?' He wondered. 'Dried ginko leaves and high-quality vervain?   
What might a Hogwarts student be doing with all that? Certainly, it wasn't   
part of the intermediate potions kit we're to bring this year.' Then a   
hand plucked a jar from in front of his eyes. Startled, he turned to find   
the culprit being Haley herself.   
  
"Sorry, did I frighten you?" She grinned in a way that made him question   
if she was really sorry. "Just getting a bit low on meteor slime." She   
turned to a barrel of gray-blue stuff that Harry honestly hoped he'd never   
have to touch and ladled it into the jar.  
  
"Two ounces?" The cashier asked. "Six sickles, twenty-six knuts." Haley   
handed the money to him readily, though muttering something about high   
prices and being out of moon sugar. Ron, being completely oblivious,   
suddenly exclaimed,  
  
"Let's go for ice cream!" That was something they all could agree on and   
they headed for the parlor. As they sat eating their ice cream, a tall,   
lanky, very blonde boy appeared in front of the shop, apparently looking   
for someone.  
  
"Is that... Malfoy?" Hermione whispered. Something in Haley's neck   
twitched and she flicked her eyes to him for no more than a second.  
  
"In the flesh." she murmured. Just as she did so, he seemed to spot them   
and came over, running a nervous hand through his hair.  
  
"I can't beleive I'm asking you dunderheads this," he began with obvious   
annoyance, "but have you seen a redhead girl, Hogwarts student, one green   
eye and one-" he saw Haley, "-purple." There was a pause as they stared   
each other down. "Haley!!"  
  
"Draco!!" They yelled at the same time.  
  
"They are Gryffindors, you know." he uttered quietly, sounding just a bit   
dangerous.  
  
"It's summer break, Draco, give it up!" Haley returned, standing.  
  
"Slytherins do not associate with Gryffindors under ANY circumstance!" He   
hissed.  
  
"Break! Summer B-R-E-A-K! Houses don't matter over summer break, Draco,   
house traditions don't apply!"  
  
"MOST traditions, Haley!" He hissed a bit louder. "You, as a Slytherin,   
are not to speak with anti-Slytherin Gryffindors EVER!" He ended quite   
loudly, drawing openmouthed stares from the occupants of the near table.   
Then he grabbed her by the wrist and led her off, with her calling after,  
  
"See you all at Hogwarts! Ja ne!" The trio just stared after them.  
  
"She was... a Slytherin?" Ron asked after a very long moment. "A Slytherin   
who knows Malfoy well enough to call him Draco?"  
  
"How in the world could she be one?" Hermione pondered. "I thought she   
might have been a Ravenclaw, maybe even Hufflepuff, but..."  
  
"She's awfully... er... cheerful to be a Slytherin, don't you think?"   
Harry finally spoke. "What was the sorting hat doing when he placed her   
there?" That was something, of course, that only the sorting hat itself   
could answer.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Harry, dear, don't you think you ought to just watch them? Are you really   
well enough?" Mrs. Weasley asked anxiously as her own boys headed out to   
practice quidditch.  
  
"Mrs. Weasley," he asked pleadingly, "I need to keep my stamina up.   
Please? I promise to be careful."  
  
"Well, alright. As long as you quit as soon as you get tired."  
  
"Absolutely, Mrs. Weasley.Thanks." He chuckled as he ran out to the small   
quidditch field. Ron was already in the air on his old Cleansweep Seven,   
zooming around as fast as it could go. The short black-haired boy watched,   
smiling, as his redhead friend flew about, having the time of his life.   
  
"Harry! What'r you waiting for? Come on up!" He called, shaking his friend   
out of his thoughts. Harry climbed on the Firebolt and quite literally   
flew up to meet Ron.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Up in the air, flying as fast as the wind... that's what Ron Weasley felt.   
But suddenly, he felt something else as well... perhaps a pair of watching   
eyes. He stopped, looking about, and discovered Harry staring from the   
ground, the oddest expression on his face.  
  
"Harry! What'r you waiting for? Come on up!" He called. Harry snapped out   
of his reverie and mounted, flying up to his already airborne friend. "You   
feel up to this, Harry? You still seem a little... er..." he faltered,   
trying to explain what he'd just seen.  
  
"I'm fine. Don't worry about it. I'll just play 'seeker' and wait till   
someone pitches a golf ball at me." Ron smiled widely.  
  
"Okay. Just be careful up there." Harry nodded and flew up. So the game   
began: Ron, Fred, and George all trying to get the 'quaffle' (an old   
basketball) from each other, and Harry circling above, watching, and   
occasionally swooping down to catch a gnome in the yard or distract one of   
the twins.  
  
Mid-game time, Ron found himself acknowledging the feeling of being   
watched again. Fred and George were occupied with some quite friendly   
struggling for the quaffle, so he turned his gaze to Harry, who was   
darting after another gnome. He threw it quite a distance over the fence,   
and looked up at Ron, who caught his eyes. Harry turned brilliantly red   
and regally rode his Firebolt back up above the others.  
  
But for the rest of the game, whenever Ron would glance up at his best   
friend, he was watching him. Finally, after dinner, he stopped Harry in   
the hallway.  
  
"What's up?" he asked simply.  
  
"What? Oh, uh, hi. What do you mean?"  
  
Ron glanced at the ceiling as if for support and whispered, "Is everything   
alright, Harry? You were... watching... me an aweful lot this afternoon.   
Need to talk about something?" Ron's heart was beating in his chest so   
hard he was sure it would burst. He knew what he wanted it to be, but that   
didn't mean that's what it was.  
  
"No, no." He laughed nervously. "I've already told you I'm alright."  
  
Ron looked at him skeptically. "You're a really bad actor, you know that?   
Come on, what's bothering you, Harry?"  
  
Harry looked down and refused to meet his friend's eyes. "I can't tell you   
now." He whispered, barely audible.  
  
"At school, then?"  
  
Harry sighed. "Sure, at school." Ron cast an arm about Harry's shoulders.  
  
"Don't worry so much. It can't be good for you, and I know I'm not the   
only one watching the great Harry Potter's health nowdays." He smiled   
warmly. "Besides, it's late. Come on to bed." Something in Harry's bright   
green eyes changed, and he looked over at Ron as a corner of his mouth   
rose in a lopsided grin.  
  
"Coming."  
  
AN: WOW! That was hell to write! But DAMN it was fun! I'll honestly try to   
get these up more often, but this particular story is really draining so   
I'll just do the best I can.  
Ah! And I need random minor Slytherin people! If you feel like being one,   
put it in a review with your year, student name, basic appearance, and   
basic personality. PLEASE don't ask to be on the quidditch team, I've got   
them all figured out!  
So R&R, eat, drink, and be merry!  
Ja! 


	3. Approaching Schooltime

Disclaimer: *randomly flying* weeee!!!!! Oh yea, it isn't mine. Wheeeeeeee!!!!!  
  
AN: Okay, so I guess I'm back again! Sorry it takes me so long to write these. *dies*  
  
bPale Rider:/b Are you paranoid about OCs or what? Okay, here are my explanations: she has an odd appearance because I really do enjoy stressing how people look and that honestly is how I look. (think colored contacts) The super potion crap is because she's a Slytherin and because she honestly DOES know Lioness Blackfire. And geez, she only verified the effect of ONE potion! It's not like she's going to take over the world or something. And she's speaking japanese because I study it and tend to forget that not every charrie in the world ought to say "ja ne!". ^_^() *looks about* this is a long explanation, isn't it? *shrugs* oh well.  
  
bSpazz Angel and Riot Girl:/b Thankies for giving me slytherinish peeps! Riot, I can prolly set your charrie up w/Malfoy for a bit when he's not dating my charrie. : D  
  
bThe general public:/b I still could use a few more slytherin peoples so review! Review! Review!  
  
By the way, angsty chapter here. Watch out.  
  
**Blue Raspberry**  
  
Chapter Three: Approaching Schooltime  
  
Harry was sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree in Ron's backyard, staring at the sky. His redheaded friend watched him through a window in the back of the kitchen, light blue eyes affecting a concerned appearance. Summer break was nearly over, and Harry was apparently still brooding over the mystery thing he was brooding about before. Ron hadn't made any more moves on him, but, as he was thinking at that very moment in the kitchen,  
  
'He just looks so fragile... I'm afraid to touch him because what if he breaks? He'll be a mess, I won't be much better off, and everybody who cares about him will be... so mad...'  
  
"Ron, what are you doing?" A curious voice asked from behind him, causing him to jump away from the window he had been leaning near.  
  
"Oh, Ginny, it's just you." He breathed out, trying to recover his composure. She marched over to the window and peered out, then turned a somewhat worried-looking gaze in his direction.  
  
"Is it Harry, Ron? You worried about him?"  
  
"Yes, but... he's just been like this all summer and he won't tell me what's wrong!" He pulled at his fiery red hair. "Ugghhh... It's just frustrating, you know? When a friend has you genuinely worried about them and they won't tell you what's going on." He slid down the wall. Ginny knelt next to him.  
  
"Ron, would you like me to go talk to him?" Ron's eyes nearly teared up at his younger sister's suggestion.  
  
"Ginny, would you really do that for me? It would help me so much if you could find something out..." Ginny nodded and Ron threw his arms around her shoulders. "Ohh /i you!" Ginny hugged him back and pushed herself away, straightening her skirt before walking out into her backyard.  
  
"Hey Harry." she greeted as she approached the tree. "Mind if I join you?" Harry shook his head in way of an answer. Ginny sat down next to him, being careful that it was far enough away that it seemed like just a concerned friend and not another person trying to get his 'attention'. "You okay?"  
  
"Hn." He grumbled, not turning his bright green eyes away from the sky. She looked at him then, and he seemed to regain a bit more of what he was and looked at her too.  
  
"Is everything alright?" She asked again, voice close to a whisper. He buried his head in is arms and upturned knees, uttering a deep sigh.  
  
"No, not really."  
  
"Do you..." she picked her words carefully, "...want to tell me what it is?" He just hugged his knees tighter, and sighed again.  
  
"Are you going to..." he lifted his head and faced her, catching her purplyblue eyes seriously. "Promise me you won't tell Ron." Ginny was somewhat surprised at that request and paused for a long moment before replying.  
  
"I promise." she said, keeping his eyes locked with hers as she spoke. Harry sighed heavily and looked at the grass.  
  
"It's not something I'm particularily proud of..." he mumbled, barely audible. "And are you sure you won't get..." he looked at her again, searching this time. "...weirded out?" Ginny nodded, feeling a bit uncertain. "I may as well just say it then." he took a deep breath. "I... I like..." Ginny's eyes widened a bit.  
  
"You like Ron, don't you?" Harry's face fell and he nodded glumly. "Oh you poor dear..." she said, and extended an arm toward him, placing it comfortingly about his shoulders.  
  
"Ginny, what 'm I going to do? He dosen't like me that way. Hell, he probably isn't even like that!"  
  
"I'm not sure about that..." Ginny began, choosing her words carefully once again, "But I know he's worried about you, and maybe..." he caught a mischevious gleam in her eyes that reminded him of the twins, "...just maybe if you don't mention it's him, and you ask him about it, he'll give you some advice." She grinned as the excited, happy spark in his eyes returned. Suddenly he gripped her in a firm hug, and said,  
  
"Thanks Ginny. I owe you one."  
  
AN: Okay so that was REALLY SHORT. *shrugs* It's titled "approaching schooltime" and the next logical thing in sequence is the trainride, so...  
  
tune in soon for the next chapter of Blue Raspberry! I might put in a randomly-picked slytherin person or two next chappie! So keep reviewing and seeya soon! 


	4. Back to Hogwarts

Disclaimer: *blinks* You want another one? Well it's not mine. This chapstick is though! *holds up grape chapstick* hehehe...   
AN: Sorry last chappie was so short, but this is going to be a good long one I hope... keep in your seats! Oh, and now that OOTP has come out... yea, I'm not following the things that go on in there, that person is not going to die (though somebody else might in my version... hmm...) but I'm totally stealing the sorting hat's song because it fits with a very large theme in this fic. *begins to snicker at something that amuses her* I'm also continuing with Haley's speaking of Japanese at points because she studies it. (actually because I use it so often in my own vocabulary that I never even think twice about inserting it) So yea, on with it!   
  
**Blue Raspberry**   
Chapter Four: Back to Hogwarts   
  
It was finally time. Finally time for the Hogwarts Express to leave with all the students, old and new, to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry Potter, despite the slump he had been in for the past few weeks, was ecstatic. Then he remembered something when he saw Hermione with a shiny prefect badge on the chest of her robe.   
  
"Ron, who got prefect of the Gryffindor boys?" The two boys looked at each other. "Okay, if I didn't... and you didn't... what's prefect based on anyway? The least rule-breaking?" Ron shrugged. "Well there's Dean, Seamus, and-" Just then Neville walked up, looking somewhat lost.   
  
"Hermione, where's the prefect car?" he asked nervously, his hands clutching something on the chest of his robe. Hermione looked at him.   
  
"The prefect car?" Harry and Ron both looked at him too. "Neville... did you... are you a prefect?" He chewed on his bottom lip and nodded, opening his hands to show a shiny badge just like Hermione's. The bushy-brown-haired girl looked at him then, the expression in her eyes calculating and a little confused.   
  
"Congrats, Neville!" Ron broke the silence, and clapped the slightly shorter boy on the back. Harry grinned and nodded, then realized he wasn't on eye-level with his clumsy friend anymore. In fact, Harry was considerably shorter. Neville had not only grown, but slimmed out over the summer, his appearance suddenly taking on the feeling of someone not entirely used to his new height.   
  
"Well, the prefect car is right over there... I... uh, I'll come with you. I haven't checked in either." And the two walked off toward the first car of the train, leaving Ron and Harry to find a compartment for later.   
  
Seeing as they were a little early, it wasn't hard to claim their traditional compartment at the end of the train. Just as they were opening the door to it, a commotion appeared at the front end of the car. An irate redhead with her back to Harry and Ron and fists on her hips was yelling at Malfoy.   
  
"My god, Draco, I swear you're smarter than this! You've had that badge for five minutes and you're already picking on a third-year!" Said third-year was standing a little ways behind the redhead and was chewing on her knuckles, wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a t-shirt with a picture of a badger on it.   
  
"Smart? Who's talking about being smart? That third-year is a Slytherin in a badger shirt! Slytherins don't support Hufflepuff! It's being downright... un-Slytherin!"   
  
"Hufflepuff? Just because she's wearing a badger shirt dosen't mean she's supporting Hufflepuff! And even if she was, you're picking on her for a reason that is frankly none of your buisness!"   
  
"None of my...! I'm a prefect, Haley, it's my buisness if there's a Slytherin being... un-Slytherin, and I think you're being so right about now!"   
  
"Un-Slytherin? Draco, you idiot, ninety-five percent of the school wouldn't stand up to you because they're scared out of their freaking wits at the thought, but I'm standing up to you because you're doing something that my moral code says isn't right - literally doing everything in my power to get things the way I want them to be - and you're calling ME un-Slytherin? You need to get your priorities straight." She turned and grabbed the wrist of the third-year Slytherin. "Come on Brenna, let's let him straighten himself out _alone_."   
  
And she marched off, leaving Malfoy glaring after her. He turned and looked up, spotting Ron and Harry, scowled and muttered, "What?" then turned and left the car. Harry and Ron went into the compartment they were in front of, closed the door, caught each other's eyes, and burst into hysterical laughter.   
  
"I... can't beleive... oh god." Ron tried to gasp out after they had mostly calmed down. "Did you see his FACE?" He laughed a little more.   
  
"And how did you like that phrase he used? 'Un-Slytherin'" he mocked, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, "Lockhart could've come up with something better!" They were still laughing when Hermione reappeared.   
  
"What's so funny?" she asked with an expression that betrayed she thought she'd missed some fun.   
  
"Haley making an absolute _idiot_ of Malfoy after he messed with some third-year." Ron chuckled out. Hermione rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.   
  
"They're the Slytherin prefects, you know." Hermione commented.   
  
"Those two?" Ron said, eyes filling with amusement again. "The Slytherins won't have a moment of peace!"   
  
"And the problem with that is...?" Harry asked wryly. "Really I think that Haley is the only Slytherin I've ever liked." And if he'd been looking at Ron at that particular moment, Harry would have noticed that his friend gave him a sharp, somewhat worried look, and then stared at the ground. "So who are the other prefects for this year?"   
  
"Susan Bones and Justin Flich-Flechety for Hufflepuff, and-" she was cut off as the train began moving. Ron looked up and out the window, suddenly smiling slightly at something in his own mind. Harry looked at him and delicately lifted an eyebrow.   
  
"Something interesting happening that you care to share with us?" he asked. Ron smiled at him and shook his head in an I'm-not-telling-you-now manner.   
  
"_Ron_." Hermione prompted in her own way.   
  
"Not saying a word." He said, and caught Harry's eye. "Not until we get to school." Harry felt the bottom of his stomach drop as he remembered that he'd promised to tell Ron what was bothering him back at the burrow when they got to school.   
  
Hermione watched this exchange carefully, and finally asked, "Harry? You... er, you alright?"   
  
"Hn." He grunted, and settled back in the corner of the seat. Hermione shot Ron an accusatory glare, and Ron, for once, looked abashed at what he'd done. There was a long silence then as Harry stared moodily out the window, Ron watched Harry worriedly, and Hermione looked from one to the other repeatedly and puzzled over what had just happened.   
  
"Ano... would it be okay if I joined you for a bit?" They all turned to see a very farmiliar copper-haired Slytherin in the doorway.   
  
"By all means, come in." Harry greeted emphatically, glad for a distraction of any sort. Hermione noticed it and tried to suppress a quizzical expression slipping across her features.   
  
"Arigato. I need a place Draco won't think of looking for me." She glanced at the door as she said his name, as if he would come bursting through at any moment.   
  
"Is he not happy with the outcome of your argument?" Ron asked, a wryness in his voice and words that was not usually present. Harry looked at him, startled.   
  
"How do you..."   
  
"You were at the end of this train car. We were just down here. It wasn't exactly... ah... hard to hear you." Haley looked at her fellow redhead and smiled in amusement.   
  
"Fair enough." There followed a long silence, as so often occurs when a new person enters a group of old friends. Hermione proved to be the silence's undoing with her sharp memory.   
  
"Haley, that thing you said earlier... ahree... umm..."   
  
"Arigato?" Haley provided.   
  
"Oh! Yes, that. What is it? I've never encountered that word before."   
  
"It's 'thank you' in japanese." she stated somewhat shyly. Harry likened it to being embarassed, though he couldn't think of why she might be embarassed about knowing japanese.   
  
"Do you speak much?" Hermione continued on, always eager to learn.   
  
"Mm-hm. I've been studying it for about..." she counted on her fingers, "three and a half years, give or take a couple months."   
  
"Where do you study it? I'm right interested, if it won't interfere with my schoolwork."   
  
"Oh, I... ah... I study on my own. Out of books, and... you know... watching animes and such..." her pale cheeks flushed to a pinkish red as she trailed off, looking at the floor at her feet.   
  
"Could you say something for us?" Ron asked, completely oblivious to Haley's mood change. She turned an even darker shade of red and looked at him nervously.   
  
"Well, uh, that is what should I... ah... say?" Ron shrugged.   
  
"Anything." Haley, to Harry's extreme surprise, weakly cowered and brought her knees up to hug against her chest. In Harry's mind, this didn't quite make sense. Here was a girl who referred to Malfoy by his first name, stood up to him to the point of actually yelling in public if need be, was an apparent potions genius, and on top of that knew japanese; and yet when she was asked to demonstrate, she turned a brilliant shade of red and hid behind her own knees.   
  
"I won't say anything at all if you don't tell me what to say." she mumbled, voice slightly muffled from behind her arms. He looked at Ron, who seemed equally puzzled, and then Hermione, who seemed to understand at least a bit.   
  
"Just say..." he glanced at Ron "... and excuse me for being poetic... 'I want you all to myself'." His two closer companions both looked at him oddly, obviously extremely curious as to what had made him think of that. Haley visibly relaxed and smiled.   
  
"Anata hitorijime ga hoshii." she said, the words rolling smoothly off her tounge. At the three's surprised expressions, she colored again but smiled. Her mismatched eyes sought out Harry' green pair and she gave him a look of intense gratitude. He returned with a smile.   
  
"Am I interrupting something?" drawled a silky voice from the doorway. All four occupants of the compartment looked up to see Draco Malfoy, leaning comfortably against the doorframe. "Not that I really care." he fixed a glare-of-painful-death on Haley with cold grey-blue eyes. "This is the second time, Haley. The second time I've caught you in the company of these three Gryffindors." He acknowledged their prescences. "Granger, Potter, Weasley." he turned back to his victim. "You, Haley, are supposed to be a leader of Slytherins. A prefect. Where the hell do you get off associating with these..." he faltered. "...okay, so it's required for you to associate with Granger, but Potter and Weasley..." Harry looked at his new friend, worried for her as she hadn't even recovered from the odd japanese thing when Draco had appeared. He was shocked to find her returning the glare of death to Draco, and she looked furious.   
  
"Draco..." she hissed in a low key. She stood up, black robes falling elegantly to the ground. He advanced a step on her, not breaking eye contact.   
  
"If I find you with them one more time..." he grabbed her by the front of the robes, an act that would have seemed racy if it hadn't been obviously meant as a threat. A dangerous, low growl ripped from Haley's throat and she grabbed Draco's wrist with her fingernails, digging them in. Then all at once Draco was halfway across the apartment from her, having been slammed into the wall.   
  
"NEVER touch me, you arrogant, pompous son of a bitch." the words came out half hiss half growl in an eerily frightening sound that made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand on end. She pulled out her wand in a fluid motion and aimed it point-blank at Draco's chest. "I will choose my own friends and walk my own path. If you try to impede upon it, you will be hurt." she stood and walked to the door. Halfway out, she turned her head back. "After all this time, I thought you knew that, though."   
  
And with that, she was gone.   
  
Everybody stared after her for a long time, even Draco, but soon the three Gryffindors looked at him cautiously.   
  
"That kid gets weirder every time I see her." Harry remarked.   
  
"Try having known her since you were three." Draco replied in a detached manner.   
  
"Ano... daijobu?" came a curious voice from the doorway. Haley was poking her head back in. Draco heaved himself up and looked at her.   
  
"I'm fine." he started out the door. "But next time you pull that anguness thing I swear I'll..." his voice trailed away as they got farther away from the compartment. They all stared again, this time for a different reason.   
  
"If I may second that, Harry..." Ron said uncertainly. He looked at Hermione for her to agree as well, but she was already puzzling over something, muttering.   
  
"Anguness ((ayn-joo-ness)), anguness... where have I heard that before?"   
  
"Hermione?" Ron asked cautiously as she opened her trunk and started digging for her new care of magical creatures book. She flipped it open to a page with a picture of what looked like a large cat with angel wings and a unicorn's horn.   
  
"Anguness... short for angel lioness... has a lion's voice box and a snake's tounge." She smiled. "I thought so." she said louder.   
  
"Umm, you though what, Hermione?" Harry asked.   
  
"Draco said something about 'pulling an anguness thing'. Haley sounded like she was both growling and hissing, right? Well and anguness has a lion's voice box and a snake's tounge. So technically it could growl and hiss at the same time, like Haley was doing."   
  
"Oh." was the only reply she got, but she seemed content with it anyway. The rest of the trip to Hogwarts proved to be rather uneventful, barring when Ron almost choked on a jalapino flavored bertie bott's bean. There were no more sightings of farmiliar people (or unfarmiliar ones, for that matter) and they enjoyed an exciting game of exploding snap.   
  
"Firs' years!" called a gruff voice from the Hogwarts platform. "Firs' years over here!" Harry smiled at hearing Hagrid calling out. Evidently he'd managed to make it back to Hogwarts from whatever he'd been doing in the summer. On the hill, Hogwarts loomed, looking friendly and frightening both.   
  
Riding the carraiges up to the castle, Harry caught sight of a very odd-looking girl with long dirty blonde hair and a vacant expression. She seemed to be holding Neville's toad and looked for all the world like she had just wandered up and gotten into the carraige because it was there.   
  
"Oh, I can't wait until classes start..." Hermione was saying. "I've been signed up for arinthmancy master classes, did you know they let me test out of the advanced class? I'm hoping to take the grand master classes next year."   
  
"Hermione." Harry finally interrupted. "It's not like I don't think it's great and all, but I didn't even know Hogwarts HAD master and grand master arinthmancy classes."   
  
"Oh Harry, of course they do, along with..." Harry shook his head and smiled, partially tuning her out. It was good to be home.   
  
The Great Hall was absolutely gorgeous, as usual, with it's floating candles and starry-sky-ceiling. That night a full moon shone down on the feast as well, making Harry think of Professor Lupin, and then of DADA teachers in general.   
  
"Who do you think will be the defense against the dark arts teacher this year?" he asked in the clamor before the new first-years were to be brought out.   
  
"As long as it's not Snape, I don't care." Ron replied, glancing at the potions master.   
  
"Well it's not." Hermione pointed out matter-of-factly. "There's a new person up there, who I've never seen before. She's got to be the new one." Harry squinted at the black-haired woman and turned back to Hermione.   
  
"Are you sure? I've seen her before." He said. Hermione looked confused, but Ron snapped his fingers, remembering.   
  
"Yea, she just graduated! She was a chaser on the Slytherin quidditch team!" He realized what he'd just said. "Oh great. Like we really need to deal with more Slytherins."   
  
"Technically, Ron, she's not a Slytherin anymore if she graduated." Hermione replied. Ron looked to Harry for support on the matter, but the green-eyed boy shrugged.   
  
"Hermione's got a point." Harry said. Ron opened his mouth to argue, but at that moment, the new first-years filed in. Harry was amused to find in the center of the line, four of them had managed to form a tight knot that Snape glared at vehemently.   
  
The sorting hat was already set up and there was a long moment where nothing happened. The first-years mostly looked scared out of their skins. Then suddenly a rip near the brim opened, the hat looked around (well, it seemed like it looked around) and began to sing:   
  
In times of old when I was new   
And Hogwarts barely started   
The founders of our noble school   
Thought never to be parted:   
United by a common goal,   
They had the selfsame yearning,   
To make the world's best magic school   
And pass along the learning.   
"Together we will build and teach!"   
The four good friends decided   
And never did they dream that they   
Might someday be divided,   
For were there such friends anywhere   
As Slytherin and Gryffindor? (Harry glanced at Haley across the room)   
Unless it was the second pair   
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?   
So how could it have gone so wrong?   
How could such friendships fail?   
Why, I was there and so can tell   
The whole sad, sorry tale.   
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those   
Whose ancestry is purest."   
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose   
Intelligence is surest."   
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach those who   
Have brave deeds to their name."   
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,   
And treat them just the same."   
These differences caused little strife   
When first they came to light,   
For each of the four founders had   
A House in which they might   
Take only those they wanted, so,   
For instance, Slytherin   
Took only pure-blood wizards   
Of great cunning, just like him.   
And only those of sharpest mind   
Were taught by Ravenclaw   
While the bravest and the boldest   
Went to daring Gryffindor.   
Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,   
And taught them all she knew,   
Thus the houses and their founders   
Retained friendships firm and true.   
So Hogwarts worked in harmony   
For several happy years,   
But then discord crept among us   
Feeding on our faults and fears.   
The Houses that, like pillars four,   
Had once held up our school,   
Now turned upon each other and,   
Divided, sought to rule.   
And for a while it seemed the school   
Must meet an early end,   
What with dueling and with fighting   
And the clash of friend on friend   
And at last there came a morning   
When old Slytherin departed   
And though the fighting then died out   
He left us quite downhearted.   
And never since the founders four   
Were whittled down to three   
Have the Houses been united   
As they once were meant to be.   
And now the Sorting Hat is here   
And you all know the score:   
I sort you into Houses   
Because that is what I'm for.   
But this year I'll go further,   
Listen closely to my song:   
Though condemned I am to split you   
Still I worry that it's wrong,   
Though I must fulfill my duty   
And must quarter every year   
Still I wonder whether sorting   
May not bring the end I fear.   
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,   
The warning history shows,   
For our Hogwarts is in danger   
From external, deadly foes   
And we must unite inside her   
Or we'll crumble from within   
I have told, you, I have warned you...   
Let the sorting now begin.   
  
There was a moment of silence after the hat went still, as the students at the four tables exchanged glances warily, unsure of what to do. Dumbledore began the applause, and when it rang, it rang clear and true, but the feeling was off and everybody knew. ((ahhh!!! no more rhyming!!!)) McGonagall, after getting a nod from Dumbledore, began the sorting, and the Great Hall was more silent than ever before.   
  
"Asafoetida, Opal!" She called. The girl ran forward and set the hat on her head.   
  
"RAVENCLAW!" cried the hat momentarily, and as the sorting began, the occupants of the room visibly relaxed. Harry partially tuned out the sorting, which seemed to go much faster than the previous year's. His ears, however, perked up every time a Gryffindor or Slytherin was sorted.   
  
'Loneking, Apollo' went to the Gryffindor table, directly followed by 'Luna, Taiyou' and 'Luna, Tsuki' to the Slytherin. He noted that they were three of the four of the knot he had noticed earlier. 'Oceanking, Iro' went to Ravenclaw and was the last of those he was remotely interested in.   
  
Soon the sorting was done with and so was the feast, and Hermione and Neville found themselves leading a group of droopy-eyed first years to the Gryffindor common room. Harry was so tired himelf that the moment his head touched the pillow, he was asleep.   
  
AN: I know, I know. I totally skipped the feast. But it's ten pages already and I wanted to get this up and still leave it with a sence of mystery and yet contentment. ... Yea. ^^;; 


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